The Amazing Randi, Penn & Teller & Michael Shermer Debunk the Junk: The Best Debunkers of Psychic & Supernatural Phenomena

It's fun to believe in the mystical world. There's not a person amongst us that at sometime didn't allow belief, however brief, into the magical or the possibility of real psychic phenomenon. Come Halloween, it's even more irresistible for many to believe just a bit more in the more spooky things in our world. Ghosts, vampires and voodoo or weird beings from beyond this dimension or our own solar system seem to be more real than ever before.

Ever since men could tell the tales, there has been belief in the supernatural. There have been those gullible enough to buy everything relating to the supernatural and those unscrupulous enough to scam the former into believing in magic or psychic powers. I always keep an open mind, but like they say, don't keep your mind too open or your brain will fall out. Thankfully, there are those out there looking out to protect the more trusting or gullible amongst us. Here are the best around who debunk the junk of ghosts, psychic phenomenon and just about everything else weird, wacky and wild.

Penn & Teller

This magician team consisting of towering, talkative giant Penn Gillete and his silent partner Teller (Raymond Joseph Teller) continue to delight audiences with their mix of illusion and engaging stage presence. On their Showtime TV series: Penn & Teller: Bullshit! - the duo casts a harsh light on everything from crystal power to divining rods. Much in the manner and spirit of their pioneering magician colleague Harry Houdini, Penn & Teller try to urge their audience to apply logic and critical thinking to such wide ranging in interpretation phenomenon as ESP, alien abduction or alternative medicine. Not perfect themselves, they've gone on record on occasion to clarify or retract things on the program which may be challenged by new data or professional studies.

The Amazing Randi

At 80 years old, a pioneer debunker and magician, James Randi who goes by the stage name The Amazing Randi has tirelessly debunked claims of ESP and the weird of the world for decades now. His James Randi Educational Foundation offers a standing challenge to anyone who can, under properly agreed conditions, demonstrate powers of the paranormal or supernatural. The challenge was first issued in 1964, when Randi offered $1,000 of his own money up for the test. When other like minded individuals heard of his proposal, they donated their own funds. The hefty reward is now a real inducement for the real wizards of the world to stand up and claim some cold hard cash. The real psychics around us must not need the bread, because as of yet nobody has successfully met Randi's challenge.

Michael Shermer

Founder of The Skeptics Society, Shermer is a a science writer and science historian. With its magazine Skeptic and membership of over 55,000 members, Shermer guides a group which tries to promote rational thought and does its best to debunk silly claims of supernatural sensationalism. He's the author of many books including; The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience and Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. Shermer once led a fundamentalist Christian lifestyle, but now he's a nontheist.